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The 700 Club Prayer Counselors are available 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. If you or someone you love needs prayer,
please call (800) 759-0700. A 700 Club Prayer Counselor will
answer your call. If you need ongoing support, we encourage
you to contact the pastor of your local church. With the guidance
of your pastor, you might also consider seeking professional
Christian counseling. Here are some national ministries that
we can recommend:

EMOTIONAL
HEALTH

10
Tips for Managing Your Depression

By
New Life Ministries

CBN.com 
1. Do not expect too much from yourself too soon, as this will only accentuate
feelings of failure. Avoid setting difficult goals or taking on ambitious new
responsibilities until youve solidly begun a structured treatment process.

2.
Break large tasks into small ones, set some priorities, and do what can be done,
as it can be done.

3. Recognize patterns in your mood. Like many people
with depression, the worst part of the day for you may be the morning. Try to
arrange your schedule accordingly so that the demands are the least in the morning.
For example, you may want to shift your meetings to midday or the afternoon.

4.
Participate in activities that may make you feel better. Try exercising, going
to a movie or a ball game, or participating in church or social activities. At
a minimum, such activities may distract you from the way you feel and allow the
day to pass more quickly.

5. You may feel like spending all day in bed,
but do not. While a change in the duration, quality and timing of sleep is a core
feature of depression, a reversal in sleep cycle (such as sleeping during daytime
hours and staying awake at night) can prolong recovery. Give others permission
to wake you up in the morning. Schedule "appointments" that force you to get out
of the house before 11 a.m. Do this scheduling the night before; waiting until
the morning to decide what you will be doing ensures you will do nothing.

6.
Dont get upset if your mood is not greatly improved right away. Feeling better
takes time. Do not feel crushed if after you start getting better, you find yourself
backsliding. Sometimes the road to recovery is like a roller coaster ride.

7.
People around you may notice improvement in you before you do. You may still feel
just as depressed inside, but some of the outward manifestations of depression
may be receding.

8. Try not to make major life decisions (such as changing
jobs or getting married or divorced) without consulting others who know you well
and who have a more objective view of your situation.

9. Do not expect
to snap out of your depression on your own by an exercise of will power. This
rarely happens. Many churches and communities have depression support groups.
Connect with people who understand depression and the recovery process.

10.
Remind yourself that your negative thinking is part of the depression and will
disappear as the depression responds to treatment.